


drove through ghosts to get here

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Families of Choice, Future Fic, M/M, Multi, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-22 10:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 19,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21300836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: "You're quiet this morning.  Something new on your mind?" Maggie asked."Something old.  Frank's home, he'll probably stop in to see you soon," he replied after a moment.Ah, that would switch on Matthew's brood setting.  "Is he in trouble?""I don't think so.  I think he's - at loose ends."Frank Castle was a haunted man who gave his ghosts teeth and weapons instead of laying them to rest but he had a good heart.  He had given Matthew comfort when Jessica was still learning how but he'd tapped out before things got too permanent.She was sure there was more to it, but she did her best to keep her nose out of Matthew's more 'delicate' business, but it had barely been a year after he left that they lost Foggy and - Karen.*Future!fic.  Frank returns to Hell's Kitchen after a few years away.  He's changed.  So has everything else.  (ever-expanding wip because nano.)
Relationships: Frank Castle/Jessica Jones/Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones/Matt Murdock, Luke Cage/Jessica Jones/Matt Murdock
Comments: 66
Kudos: 31





	1. roam

It had been a couple of years, give or take, since he'd found the peace of mind to schedule a trip back to Hell's Kitchen. Less than five, surely, but fuck if he wanted to count. It felt too much like 'home' in his heart for him to allow it into his head.

He missed Matt, too much some days. All the domesticity of waking up in the same dumpster or screaming matches over bullet wounds instead of across a dinner table - he missed the hell out of it. Fuck.

He missed Jessica, too, but she'd always been Matt's first. That had been okay for them, they had no problem sharing. It was enough.

Matt confessed to them once in a mess of sweat and limbs and bruises that he used them as touchstones, like pinging off the phone towers of their heartbeats anywhere in the Kitchen. He knew what songs Jessica sang in the shower before she'd ever stayed the night and knew that Frank watched the news until the weatherman with the freckles that he hated came on.

Frank didn't need Jessica the way Matt did, and she definitely didn't need Frank. He thought she wanted to need Matt more than she actually did but it wasn't his place to question whatever twisted kind of life made them happy.

They could've been happy. Sometimes, he thought they could have figured it the fuck out.

It would have been better if they'd never talked about it but Matt's guilt rubbed off like a smudge and they'd talked about it. Out loud and everything - he'd confessed the whiskey on her breath made him think of his father and he would never kiss her on the mouth and she'd confessed that his pet names reminded her of that asshole that turned her into a puppet.

Of course, as their luck ran the same forever and ever -Matt overheard them talking - like fucking adults - and had run off to Foggy's to angst about pressuring them. Jessica and Frank drank themselves into oblivion and had great sex until he came home where they all talked - like fucking adults - and agreed to work it the fuck out.

The could have, too. Maybe if Karen hadn't disappeared, maybe if he hadn't killed eight people and a cop to get her back, maybe if he'd told Matt or Jessica where he was going before he fired the first or the tenth or the hundredth shot. _Maybe_.

He told them after, while Karen shivered under the shiny emergency blanket and Matt held the umbrella with white-knuckled fingers and Jessica stared at the bloody puddles around his boots. Maybe.

They didn't hold it over his head, his blatant breakage of the relationship - friendship - partnership - rules. He made breakfast the next day, took his dog for a walk and did his very best to make it better.

Maybe he could have. Maybe he should have tried harder. Maybe talked about the spike of joy he got from splattering those assholes into mush with a gun, how his cock got hard with every twitch of the trigger, how he'd lunged at the excuse to kill some people without consequence.

Well, without any consequence that he cared about - Karen didn't mind his default to murder in her name and he gave no fucks about jail time. The Feds paid his bail when he fucked up too much to keep out of the news.

He crossed a line he couldn't redraw, though. The trust, the faith, _whatever_ Matt and Jess had found in him before the misstep - it wasn't something they could get back.

He broke another rule when he decided to leave. He told Matt, privately and with plenty of openings for pleas for him to stay - and then Jessica - surrounded by people that hated him with plenty of openings for her to tell him to fuck off forever.

They didn't ask him to stay and they didn't tell him to leave. Jessica hugged him, not long enough for him to hug her back. Matt took off his glasses and turned his back. Neither said anything, not a fucking word.

They were fucking adults, though, and he never doubted that he would have a place to come back to. A home. Fuck.


	2. tattoo

  
She mouthed over the mark on his shoulder, licking at the ripple beneath the skin as he rumbled out of sleep from the contact. Her tiny black heart, a little crooked and uneven at the bottom from her nerves and the unfamiliarity of the tattoo gun - she never liked guns or blood enough to consider the feel of it in her hand before she'd taken it on.

Matt didn't ask for many things, he'd never ask her to marry him or have his babies; he'd never ask her to follow him into a nest of gangsters or a warehouse full of ninjas; but he'd asked her for this.

Her tiny black heart. A mark on his skin that asked her to make, that wasn't meant to take his life but make it better, a wound that didn't hurt that he could wear without shame. He wanted to wear her heart and it fucking made her hurt.

"Morning?" he mumbled, shifting against the pillow.

She didn't apologize for waking him, they fought about too many other things to bother worrying about sleep schedules or alcohol intake. "Nope. Late."

"Fight?" he yawned, smacking his lips and darting out his tongue.

"Nope," she smiled, kissing the tattoo again and making him shiver.

"Miss me?"

"Never," she lied, leaning down to catch his mouth. She was never going to be without him long enough to miss him.

It had taken them a while to get to this point in their relationship. Took too long to move from the sex with benefits to the dating level and then not long enough to move in together. She considered Frank and Luke their training wheels - so what if they needed a little help learning how to love each other - they had enough love to go around. Their little cluster of ride or die vigilantes were too tightly bound to not overlap into each other.

Foggy died on a Sunday morning, bright with sunlight. Matt had been at church, taking his dose of Mother with his Father, Son and Holy Ghost. She'd been in a flourescent cubicle for her weekly visit via satellite with Trish with Luke and Danny waiting outside in silent support. But Foggy had been at brunch with Marci, Karen and three-year old LuAnn.

Matt never asked if Karen spotted the man with the gun, if she ducked an instant before the bullet shattered his skull, if she'd had time to shove LuAnn out of the way before brain matter and blood coated her tiny Hello Kitty dress, if she started screaming before or after the gun went off.

Matt never asked Karen anything because he didn't say a word for two weeks, bonded in silence with tiny LuAnn who brushed her hair until it started to fall out in stress-shaped clumps. She couldn't get her daddy's blood out of her curls.

He'd sought her out, fourteen days after his best friend's heartbeat went silent in his world, and told her that he didn't know who he was without Foggy Nelson. There had been a time she hadn't known who she was without Trish - but her sister was still breathing and Foggy - well, fuck.

Marci liked valium with white wine chasers and moved into their guest room and LuAnn moved into Matt's pocket. The six months with a tiny traumatized child sharing their space made them stronger than any extra lover they'd had around. But Marci found her way out of her grief, Karen made her way right out of town and Lu didn't have to see her mother or aunt at their worst.

"Thinking?" Matt stirred, eyelids sputtering open but searching with his hand as he slid his thumb across her cheek.

"Nah, it's too late for thinking. Go back to sleep," she said, kissing the tiny black heart for luck and forcing herself to the bathroom before giving in to rest.


	3. shooting star

  
Luke glanced up when the bell jangled on the door. He knew the closed sign was turned the correct way but Danny never remembered to lock up when he fell asleep in a booth after closing time.

He recognized Frank Castle when the flash of sunlight from the morning shuttered back into the interior dimness of the bar. He couldn't be too disappointed, they'd had a few months of easy living so it was probably time for the drama to start back up.

"Wow, nice place, Cage," Frank said with a wary smile. So he'd heard enough to be wary - good.

"Thanks, it's a work in progress," Luke said automatically. "We're not open yet, but I can offer a cup of coffee."

"Appreciate it. I lost my bearings a little after my first couple of stops."

Fishing. Frank had probably gone by Matt's old place, or maybe Karen's. "Yeah, lotta new addresses but the Kitchen doesn't change that much. How'd you know to come here?"

"Sign's different at Matt's office."

Luke met the man's dark eyes. "Yeah. Coming up on two years since we lost Foggy, been a long road to get here."

Frank recoiled like he'd been punched and paled like it was a nut shot. "What - how?"

"Someone out to get Karen, she left town a little while after. That's a story for another day, but she's doing all right, just not here," Luke said quietly. "Probably best you ended up here, we try not to make Matt talk about it before he brings it up himself."

Frank sat down heavily, dropping his duffle with a thump. "Damn."

"Life goes on, you know how that works," Luke said. "I'm three years without arrest and got myself a sustainable business, Matt got a couple of lawyers to keep his firm afloat and Jessica's buying Matt a cat for their anniversary."

The announcement didn't have the effect he expected, not a twist of jealousy or a tic of envy, but a soft smile. Huh. "She hates cats."

"But Matty loves 'em," Luke murmured.

"Matty?" There was that forehead twitch.

"They don't do that anymore," Luke shrugged. "At least not with me, but you're going to do what you want anyway."

"No," Frank said quietly. "I didn't come back for them, not like that."

"Then why?"

He lowered his gaze to the bar and splayed scarred hands on the countertop. "Thinking about taking leave. Coming home."

Huh.

"Don't think I've ever been this long without a gun in my hand. Tossed 'em all into the Gulf six months ago. Stayed in Amy's guest room until she kicked me out for scaring her new boyfriend. Prissy little jackass," he grumbled.

Luke had never met Amy but he knew she meant a lot to Frank, enough for him to keep her entirely to himself over the years.

"She said I should go home, that I was lucky to have one. You think I still have one?"

"Not the same one you left," Luke replied honestly.

"They never are," Frank shrugged.

He nodded his chin across the bar to the Devil's Corner, lit in red and black and safe behind a red velvet rope. "He'll come in with his partner in a few minutes for coffee, they make their rounds if they don't have court."

"New partner? Not Nelson's wife?" Frank asked.

"She's only part-time at the office, raising the kid on her own is a full-time gig, you know?"

Frank shivered. "Shit."

"Yeah, but Jen's good people. Go have a seat so Matt won't think you were sneaking around without telling him," Luke said, turning to make sure he'd have enough coffee with the additional guest.

Hell's Kitchen was home, now, but only because he'd almost burned Harlem in his quest to save it. It had taken a shit-ton of soul-searching and gunfire to turn state's evidence and walk out of court a free man, not a snitch or a savior - just a free man. Nelson, Murdock and Page had given him a second chance, or third or fourth, but who counted anymore and he would never stop trying to pay it forward. Theo Nelson cosigned on the paperwork to buy this bar and it had been fully in Luke's name without a penny of charity since. Danny might be his brother from another mother but he would never take the punk's money.

It wasn't like his first bar, or his first life or his first reboot - but he'd finally scraped together a life and a family that he wasn't going to lose.

Castle hadn't been on his radar when he'd been playing triangle with Jess and Matt. Well, that wasn't totally true - he'd been aware of Frank because the guy never seemed to know how to handle Jess but it hadn't been his business. Then Frank decided to fall off the 'no homicide' wagon and left town and a space in Jess and Matt's bed that Luke had done his best to fill.

He loved Jess, he'd stopped denying that ages ago, and he loved Matt, even if wasn't allowed to say it out loud at the time; but it had never gone from comfort to passion the way Luke imagined it had gone for Frank.

He didn't know for sure, of course. Frank had left but Luke had ended things with no intention of leaving - his roots were firmly planted and he needed friends more than he needed bedmates.

When they lost Foggy, they almost lost Matt, too. They did lose Karen, in a way, and they lost Marci and LuLu for a while, but they were on the other side now.

If Frank was on the up and up, maybe he could find a spot on the other side with the rest of them.


	4. teacher

"You all right, Bossman?" Matt flinched, annoyed at the nickname just like she'd intended. "Because you seem like you might be tweaking out."

He placed his hand on her arm with a pointed squeeze. "Sorry."

Oh, maybe he really was having a moment. She liked to think she knew him well, they worked side by side every day and she knew about his 'night work'; but sometimes his moodiness swerved too far one way or the other and she had to call his girlfriend or his mother, depending on which way. Today seemed like something else.

"Hang on. Seriously, tell me what's up," Jen said, taking his stick and hoping it would startle him into talking.

"I think an old friend, or something, is waiting for me at Luke's and I'm not sure how to handle it."

Okay, she could work with that. "How old of a friend? Is your Spidey-sense - "

"Stop it, you know that's - " he scoffed but she considered it a win since he relaxed that muscle in his jaw.

"I can call ahead," she offered but he shook his head so she gave him his stick back and they started the short walk from their office to Luke's bar.

She liked Luke a lot, even if her cousin said she could do better and enjoyed their daily 'flirt and smirk' sessions when she tagged along with Matt.

It was more like he tagged along with her these days. He didn't need a minder like her first few months at the office, when he still had sporadic shakes when he heard a ring tone like Foggy's from across town, or someone had his trademark sandwich from Theo's shop on their breath. Those days, she took him for regular walks every morning at ten and afternoon at two - Luke's bar, then Theo's, then Marci's and then back to the office. The fresh air and unofficial patrol was good for the grieving Devil and meeting the locals had been good for her.

She liked it here. Matt's friends were kind to her without needing her cousin's referral and didn't think she was trying to replace their late friend.

Foggy Nelson was a legend and she was a outsider freak - the only thing they had in common was a law degree - but Matt and Marci took a chance on her and she'd carved her own place. She earned her name on the door and had a stable of clients on her own merit, thank you very much.

"I should warn you, Frank's an acquired taste and probably has warrants in a few states if we're lucky - a few countries if we're not," Matt said, folding his stick when they reached the door.

She whistled. "Ah, the mythical ex. You think Luke's told him about Karen yet?"

"Great, something else to panic about," Matt scowled, pushing open the door. She gave him an encouraging shove toward the corner where a man was climbing to his feet.

She smiled at Luke's wink and leaned down so he could kiss her chastely on the cheek, didn't want to scare the strangers.

"Frank. Fuck," Matt said when the man embraced him with a fierce hold.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"I'm not. Christ, let me look at you - " Matt pulled out of the hug with damp cheeks and held out his hand.

She turned to Luke, raising a questioning eyebrow as Frank brought Matt's fingers to his own face.

"Got your coffee ready, let's give them some time. I texted Jess," he added under his breath for Matt's benefit.

She tried not to stare but she was always curious to see Matt interact with his exes. She would never deny observing Matt Murdock's love life like a pulpy soap opera. Sure, he was happy and marshmallow soft with Jessica even if they fought bad guys together on a regular basis; but Luke and now this guy touched him like he was made of glass. She arm-wrestled Jessica on alternating Wednesdays for charity and doubted that she ever treated him like that.

"If I introduce you will you stop staring?" Matt called across the room.

"Sorry, sorry - it can wait," she said, rolling her eyes as Luke took the stool beside her.


	5. fighter pilot

  
The callouses on Frank's fingertips were softer, less worn, than he remembered and he didn't smell a hint of gunpowder or antiseptic on the man. He was healthy and tan from the low heat of his touch and he was recently showered - hotel shit. "You hate hotels."

"What else you get so far?" Frank rumbled, a laugh buried under the thick concern of his hand-holds.

"You give up guns?" Matt whispered. "What happened?"

"That's my line. Matty - what happened to - "

He shook his head before the name was spoken. "You can ask Jess, I don't want to talk about it now, you just got here."

"Matt, that guy was more than family, more than everything, to you - tell me," Frank demanded, politely but still.

Jessica filled his senses and his instincts settled when she squeezed his shoulder with her thin fingers. "It wasn't his fault, or yours. Or Karen's, for what it's worth," Jessica said.

"Debatable," Matt said. Frank released one of his hands so he could wind his arm around Jessica and hold her as long as she allowed.

"Then you definitely need to elaborate," Frank sighed when he settled back into the booth.

"When you kill a bunch of bad guys, they don't get convicted of any crimes," Jessica said. "Which leaves their friends and family thinking that they were murdered without cause."

He winced when her words hit Frank and involuntarily shuddered in sympathy. "It was out of nowhere, the kid brother of one of those guys you took out spotted Karen and recognized her. Pulled a gun, intending to take her out and got Foggy instead," Matt said.

"Don't worry, Karen had her pocket cannon and resolved the immediate problem, you probably would have been proud," Jessica muttered.

Ouch.

"So you ran her out of town or is she locked up?" Frank asked, not taking Jessica's bait.

Matt took a deep breath and finally pulled his hand out of Frank's hold to lean back in the booth and soak up Jessica's heat by his side.

Karen didn't give off heat anymore. He'd never get used to it.

"You sure you want to know?" Jessica challenged.

"Jess," Matt warned, not sure why she was riling him up so soon into his 'visit'. They usually waited longer to break the news to Karen's friends that didn't know.

"If she was dead people wouldn't tiptoe around it, so it must be worse, something nobody wants to talk about. Tell me," Frank growled.

"She left," Matt said. "It was her own choice, she makes her own choices."

"Kid couldn't be around her, Karen couldn't handle that. I think she would have stayed if Lu - everyone was messed up after it happened," Jessica said, deflating.

"She moved to Louisiana, took a job at a newspaper writing obituaries, made some friends with a new name and stopped answering texts or emails. Turned up about six months later - different. She's different now," Matt said.

"Different how?" Frank whispered.

Matt sighed at the sound of Jessica miming fangs and hissing. "Do you have to do that every time?"

"What, it sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud," Jessica snorted.

Frank's pulse didn't jump in disbelief, but it dropped in disappointment or defeat - it wasn't really Matt's business anymore beyond breaking the news. He'd gotten used to breaking the news. "She's a vampire?"

"She preferred it to the alternative of actual death, so yes. She's - very good at it. She'll be glad to hear from you," Matt said.

Jessica poked him in the side. "Matt hates it - you know how he gets about body temperature, he can't read her at all and she loves it."

"Wait, so you're still in touch?"

"She comes home for holidays and we visited her a couple of times - never going down in the summer, hot as shit," Jessica answered for him. "What about you? Trying to play the prodigal or something?"

"He doesn't smell like gunpowder, been cooking real food and not eating MREs," Matt told her, feeling Frank's annoyance. "Sucking up, for sure."

"Fuck you both. I - I think I needed to get it out of my system."

"Define 'it'," Matt said dryly.

Frank inhaled sharply. "Don't lawyer at me, I'm still trying to deal with Karen being a - "

"She's not dead, there's nothing to deal with. She's different but not dead," Matt snapped.

"I feel like I did more harm than good, in the end. Not all of it, I don't regret anything - mostly - but - I - I think I'm done," Frank blurted out.

"For now," Jessica added.

"I want to be done," Frank said. "I made my peace, took a lot more bullets than I thought, but it's - I want to be done. Come home."

Home. Huh.

"Just like that?" Jessica asked.

"Amy accused me of nesting, told me to kick rocks. Figured - "

"Guest room's free until November, but you'll have to pull your own weight with the bills and shit," Jessica cut him off.

He seemed startled at the offer.

Matt thumped his knuckles to catch his attention. "We're not dead, but we're different. All of us. It won't be like before."

"Wouldn't have come back if it was going to be like before."


	6. promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The whole Karen stuff is a shout-out to True Blood. I was reminded of it during my October horror movie sabbatical. _(I read a lot more of the books than I saw of the show - the protag was solving crimes and shit - but I bootlegged a few seasons before giving up on Beeel and Sookie. And I was there for Eric and Pam anyway.)_

Okay, so, he knew things would be different when he came back but he wasn't prepared for - any of this.

Foggy - shit, he didn't know the guy as well as he knew Karen, Matt or Jess but - shit. He was a damned good man and deserved better than bleeding out on the goddamn street.

In front of his wife and kid, God, how fucking unfair.

"Ah hell, guess your first drink's on me," Marci said, dropping onto the stool beside him at the bar.

"Hey."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about my loss, too, but nobody's supposed to wear that face unless it's the death-versary, so dial it back," she scolded him. Luke pushed a beer over to him and a foamy mug of fancy coffee for her.

She was curvier than he remembered but it was with muscle over fat and her blonde hair framed her face in professional looking curls, even if she was wearing yoga pants and sneakers that flashed when she walked.

"I'm glad to see you," Frank decided, not sure what he was allowed to say. "You got any pictures of this kid I keep hearing about?"

Marci pointed to the window where Matt was crouched down in deep conversation with a tiny blonde girl dressed and styled identically with her mom except with an additional pink tutu. "Talking to Papa Matt, like she didn't already harass him at breakfast."

"Papa Matt?"

She laughed. "Oh, don't think too hard about it, she's got tons of uncles but only one Papa Matt."

Luke caught his confused look with a fond expression. "Lu started talking with 'Mama' and 'Dada' and pegged Matt as 'Papa' before any of the grandparents got a chance. They tell the story at all the Nelson family gatherings."

"That's - fucking adorable," Frank admitted.

"He's always been in her life, not fucking off on roadtrips or falling in love with blood-suckers like - "

"Be nice," Luke interrupted.

The new lawyer, the giant green one, had Lu on her shoulders and Matt's hand on her arm as they disappeared down the street.

"They're going to Theo's, you can meet her when she gets back, if you're sticking around longer than a weekend," Marci said, locking in her gaze.

"I'm not here to fuck anything up. I would've been back sooner if I knew - "

"Would you?" she challenged.

"Hell yes. I know how much Foggy meant to - everyone," he trailed off but she caught his meaning. "I didn't know. The fuck was Karen thinking?"

Marci laughed darkly. "God, so many people have asked that question. When she first took off, we thought she'd gone looking for you."

Fuck. "Amy and Dinah are the only people with my number."

"Whoever the fuck they are, didn't matter, though, she just - did a cold restart. She'd done it before, when she left Vermont," Marci continued as Luke wandered off to serve actual customers that had trickled in. "She settled in down South the same way, made friends and shit. Fell in love with a dangerous asshole - "

"Pause, are you guys friends or - "

Marci scoffed. "I talk to her every day. I might not agree with all of her life choices but it's not my life. Do you want to hear the story?"

He did - desperately - but not from her. "Can I get her number, or can you give her mine? Just - she wanted it to happen, she wasn't like, attacked or forced?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Marci said in a much softer tone. "She explains it better, but, she was without question going to die and the guy loved her enough to break this whole vampire law thing to save her."

He wanted to ask about vampire law but took a swallow of beer instead.

"She's still Karen, just, paler and, well, jumpier. Still sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, starting fights with people bigger than her - sure, she can only hang out at night, but - God, what is it Matt always says?"

"She's not dead, just different?" Frank offered and she laughed.

"Close enough."

"Matt and Jess, they seem to be doing okay."

"Yeah. Pretty fucking impressive. Pretty fucked up, too. I mean, they had to mess you up and almost mess up Luke before they figured their shit out. You were in it for Matt, Luke was in it for Jess and nobody was thinking about the long term. They're getting a cat together, Frank, and you know it would be a dog if you'd stuck around," she hissed.

"I'm not taking a side on this cat discussion, I'm just staying in their guest room until I get on my feet," Frank sighed. "Your kid wants a puppy?"

"She did until Auntie Jess started taking her on kitten interviews," Marci snarled.

Frank impulsively patted her hand. "I can't wait to meet your kid. I have tons of pictures of my dog, Amy refuses to give me custody until I have an address that's not a license plate."


	7. rugelach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone that's commented or clicked a kudos, it means a **LOT** right now.

  
"You okay?"

"Are you?"

Jessica considered it. "He looks good. Healthy. Didn't get the whole murder eyes at all."

Matt sniffed. "Well, that's promising, I guess." He draped his arms over her shoulders and slumped against her back. "Are we okay?"

She twisted in his hold and pressed her mouth to his. "Shut up."

"Good. I thought maybe he got prettier than me."

She laughed. "Seriously, shut up."

"I could grow a beard, would you stay with me if I grew a beard?"

"Dealbreaker, babe, what's with you? Frank - you know he was yours more than mine," she breathed into his neck. "Just like Luke was more - mine. We're still friends with Luke, don't you think we'll treat Frank the same?"

"Frank didn't end things the same way," Matt confessed.

"But you let him go. Just like I let Luke go."

True. "So no beard?"

"Unless you miss Luke's hairstyle and want me to shave my head," she challenged. "But I think we're fine as we are, yeah?"

He slid his hands down her sides to her hips and she shifted, letting him lift her to lock her legs around him. "We do seem to fit together - "

Jen rapped sharply on the door an instant before Lu's heartbeat came into range of interruption distance. _"Lunch is finished, she's on the move!"_

"Your law partner is literally called She-Hulk and she can't keep up with a five year old?"

"School's been great for Lu but Jen's got a lot to learn," Matt added, reluctantly lowering her to the floor.

_"Uncle Theo says you better not be smooching in his office!"_ Lu's voice rang out.

"Sure, smooching, you need a minute?" Jess brushed her hand over his zipper and forced him to duck back into the bathroom before she unlocked the door and started the cover story.

_"What are you doing in here with Papa Matt?"_

_"Just talking, Doodlebug, grown up stuff. Did you eat all your lunch? Even the green stuff?"_

_"Yes, even though it's not really nice to do it in front of Miss Jen but Uncle Theo said it was still a rule."_

He smiled at the kid's initiative in getting out of veggies.

_"And I needed to talk to you alone about Little General,_" Lu failed to whisper.

Ah, the anniversary cat that everyone was pretending he didn't know about.

_"Oh, of course, Papa Matt can find us downstairs when he's done washing up."_

He stepped out and ignored Jen giggling at him. "The cat's name is 'Little General'?"

"I plead the fifth."


	8. best boy

  
"Wow, a whole house - and a garage?"

Jessica twinged with pride at Frank's disbelief. "Yup, we'll have it paid off in, fuck, maybe a decade or so but - "

"You're all in. Shit, I hate I missed it, not the whole - you know what I mean," he cut himself off. "But I have been briefed on the cat situation."

She snorted. "Of course you have, everyone's in our business all the time."

He laughed and picked up a small knitted Daredevil from the table beside the door. "Well, with Matt's ears, he's already in everyone else's business, so it's kind of par for the course."

"Squeeze it," Jessica said, watching him fondle the gift. The doll let out a muted '_Yeet!_' and he dropped it with an amused start. "Gift from a client who totally doesn't know his identity."

Frank nodded, understanding. "Still an open secret?"

"Too open to probably count as a secret anymore, he's got four different suits. He helped Melvin open up a tailoring shop, keeps us all armored in style," she shrugged. "You want a tour or are you going to snoop on your own time?"

"I'm a guest and will behave like one, no matter what Amy says," Frank replied.

"You keep bringing her up, is she not a secret anymore?"

He finally put down his bag and slumped on the 'good' couch they weren't allowed to bleed on. "I kept in touch with her and nobody else. She told me that was shitty and that she doesn't need me hovering just because she was underage when we met. She graduated high school, got three and a half years of college before she quit to do hair full time - but I kept in touch and she called me a shithead."

"Well, that shouldn't be news but sure," she smiled.

"She wants to meet my friends someday. She asked me the same thing about you guys, if I was ever going to stop pretending like this wasn't home. My 'north', I think she called it."

Fuck. "Colleen has dibs on the guest room November through January. Karen stays with Marci or at Luke's bar apartment. Maggie's got Catholic stuff hidden all over the place, she has some - _issues_ with Karen's decision and chooses to make her opinion known in the most passive aggressive ways possible."

"How is Sister Maggie?" he asked.

She took a moment to consider her answer. The nun had always liked Frank for his 'latent religious tendencies' and probably because he reminded her of the mythically perfect Battlin' Jack, but the years and injuries and funerals had softened the prickly nun. God, she'd probably lose favored mate status now that Frank's home.

"She's good, still at St. Agnes and nagging like it's part of her vows."

Frank hummed. "She was close with Karen."

"Yeah. Now she spikes the egg nog with Holy Water and comes by to hang crosses in all the rooms - do not leave her unattended in the house if she's got her bag with her," Jessica instructed.

Frank picked up a knitted cross from the pile of good 'do not bleed on' pillows. He glanced at her before he squeezed it. '_The Power of Christ Compels You!_' chirped out from the internal speaker. "Seriously?"

"Matt says they have to work it out on their own, but we have to spot check the place before we invite Karen. Come on, I'll show you the guest room."


	9. popcorn chicken

He heard Jessica and Frank laughing, sprawled across the bed sharing a bottle of cheap whiskey. He took a moment to soak it up, twisting off his tie and shrugging out of his jacket as he pushed open the door with his elbow.

"There he is, finally," Jessica grinned, sloshing the bottle in his direction. Must be her second one if she was this warm. "Long day?"

"Lawson Industries decided to settle before we finished jury selection," he answered, turning down the drink. "Jen's handling the negotiations."

"Wait, they're settling? You didn't call me as soon as - "

He waved off her overreaction. "No, because you had shit to do today and it's not my case, I'm just riding second."

Frank snickered against his hand. "Sorry, you guys are just - so 'domestic' sniping about work."

"We bought a house together, _dude_, we're always going to be sniping about work with mortgage payments in the mix," Jessica said. "But I sent them the Lawson case so I assumed - "

Matt skimmed his hand across the dresser and tossed her the deactivated phone. She flipped it on with a huff as it buzzed with missed calls and messages. "Are we ordering dinner or going out? Jen offered to plan a welcome home party but I recommended she do a little research first on any outstanding warrants your Fed friends haven't covered up."

"I should be clean under whatever ID she runs - as long as it's not Frank or Pete Castle. Dinah's in the red on the favors she owes me."

"Do we want to know?" Matt tested.

"Yeah, since when is she 'Dinah' and not 'Madani'?"

Frank flushed under his clothes and Matt smiled. He could still read him, it was - comforting. Jessica hadn't been wrong about how unsettling he found Karen with the lack of body heat. "You finally - "

"Shut up, I don't kiss and tell," Frank chuckled.

"So there was kissing and not just vicious hate sex?"

"Little bit of both, everybody has regrets. Fuck tequila," Frank said, shoving Jessica.

"How is she?" Matt asked, unbuttoning his shirt and searching out a t-shirt and hopefully some sweatpants before he had to hit the streets.

"She sent me back to the desert for - it was a _mistake_ and we're never talking about it, but got her sober and I didn't die, so - she sends her chips to Amy to give to me, like I give _any_ fucks about her sobriety - "

"Aw, but you do or else you wouldn't have gone to the desert for her," Jessica said, too drunk to sidestep the blatant landmines.

Frank surprised him by shrugging off the invitation to snap. "What_ever_, I'm not on her payroll so it's her stamp if I get a Christmas card."

Matt laughed. "So we have to invite her for Thanksgiving or just the Christmas party?"

"Amy, too, it's her fault Frankie finally decided to come back," Jessica added.

"Aw, you called me Frankie, you did miss me," Frank cooed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI:  
I'm going to start backdating these chapters from here on out, otherwise I'll keep checking for kudos and stressing. Better to hide it until it finds an ending _(or a plot, ha)_ \- nobody wants me at the top of the search filter until nano's over. The void is forgiving and endless.


	10. branding

Karen redialed the missed call and pressed the button on the microwave to warm up breakfast. Marci answered on the third ring and she switched on the speaker. "Why'd you bother calling before dark, LuLu get your phone again?"

"No, just wanted to be the one to tell you."

She paused, did she need to prepare for more bad news? Was there any such thing as good news?

"Oh, don't get all broody, you don't have to fall into *all* the vampire stereotypes. Frank's back."

The microwave ding made her jump and she glared at it. "When?"

"Sometime today, turned up at Luke's when he saw the new sign at the office."

"Well, shit," she sighed, taking her bottle of blood and pouring it into a mug. "Blows my surprise out of the water."

"I told you that you'd regret waiting too long. He wants you to call him, he has questions."

"Of course he does." Of course. She could have called him when Foggy died for their sins, should have called him when she took his killer's life - hell, there were so many times she needed to track his restless ass down - but it was beyond too late for that. It had always been too late for them. "Timing's not something Frank and I ever had in common."

"That's, kind of, what I was thinking. I was also thinking that you should push up your schedule so we can get all this drama out of the way at once."

She pulled up the shades to look out over the dimly lit streets. It wasn't home, Hell's Kitchen or Vermont, but she wanted it to be. She tried to make it home - find a place and put down roots - all that shit.

Seeing Foggy die - finding out it had been her fault, fuck Matt and Maggie, it was her fault - forced her to walk away from her sparse family for the second time.

But this family hadn't let her go like her dad. Sure, Matt gave her the silent treatment and her goddaughter couldn't look her in the face but fuck - she couldn't take it there without Foggy, without - she didn't regret leaving with her tail between her legs but she would always regret ghosting them and making them be the ones to reach out.

But they did reach out. She knew Jessica and Matt's little vigilante crew would have let her ghost town in peace but Matt and Marci tracked her phone and pinged her email and silently harassed her until there were daily emails and weekly phone calls and everything apart from adoption paperwork in place to keep her on the hook.

Even when she fucked up and got turned - or lucked out and got turned, depending on her mood for the day - they didn't let her off the fucking hook.

"I haven't talked to Sister Maggie yet, and I don't have approval from the council that monitors New York state yet," Karen said, tuning out her thoughts and refocusing on the phone call.

"You know Sister Maggie loves you and would prefer to lecture you up close. And Lu needs you, she's still on this cat bandwagon with Jess and Jen - "

Jen, yuck. Karen had no reason to dislike the woman and she was told she was 'good' with Matt, but she didn't want to make new friends, she just wanted to keep the ones she had.

"Give Frank my number, maybe I can get him to win some points with Sister Maggie for me. She always loved him best."

"God, I know, Jess is freaking out about it - but yes, talk to Frank. Maybe you'll come back for him since you won't do it for us."

Karen rolled her eyes. "You know it's not that - "

"I know he claims to have his shit together and looks the part - what about you?"

"I saw you a month ago."

"My daughter barely knows what you look like anymore, called you Auntie Kara the other day because she forgot the sound of your name," Marci dramatized.

"So, done with this phone call now, tell that scruffy jarhead to call me stat. Marci - I can't make any promises, but - I'll try, okay?"

"Okay. Please. We miss you. I need you here before this cat thing goes down."

"Stop plotting against the cat, Marci, it's such a bad look."


	11. make a deal

_"So that's what she meant about the new suit, can't say it does you wrong."_

Jessica blinked out of her doze at the sound of Frank's voice too close to her ear. What year was it?

_"Always looked best in red, Red."_

_"You're drunk and I'm tired."_

_"Not trying to get you into bed, just stating some facts. Wouldn't dare fuck up what you and Jones have going. Want in on the rest of it, just not this part."_

_"Rest of it? Thought you were hanging up the Kevlar."_

_"Not that bullshit, Devil's in your blood, not mine. Nobody gave me shit today, you know that?"_

_"Did you expect to catch shit?"_

_"I'm the Punisher, people are supposed to hate me, be scared of me. Not - buy me drinks and introduce me to their kids. Not forgive me for getting their friends killed. Not welcome me back just because I'm your friend."_

_"Not just my friend, you have Jess and Karen on your tab, too."_

She rolled over and elbowed Frank hard in the ribs. "You won't have me on there if you keep ogling my boyfriend."

"Should've put a ring on it," Frank replied. "Or even better, tell Melvin to stop showing off the goods."

Matt did look great in the dark red suit but Frank took too long to drag his attention to her. "Line crossed, Castle."

Frank took both her hands and clutched them to his chest. "Jess, I'm not hitting on your man and I've been half hard since you took your bra off hours ago so get over yourself. I'm trying to say something here."

"Definitely saying 'something'," Matt muttered, sliding down the zipper and stripping out of the suit in the shadows of the open closet.

Frank kissed her knuckles with dry lips. "I didn't know what I was coming back to. The service, coming home to Maria, then Maria and babies, then - all the rest - coming home's never been something that turned out the way I expected."

"What did you expect?" she whispered. Matt stepped out in boxer briefs and a tank top that showed off his tattoo. Frank could suck it with his marriage crack - Matt had her tat.

"You and Matt to not speak to me, Nelson to be around to yell at me until I went to Sister Maggie or Karen for a pep talk. Instead, I get Cage serving me coffee and then meet a new Nelson because I missed - "

He released her hands and flopped onto his back. "I should have been here."

"We didn't need you," Matt said, his voice laced with fatigue and not the alcohol hanging off Jess and Frank. "Not the way you were then. There was enough rage and pain to go around, if you'd been here - it wouldn't have been good for anyone."

"Maybe. Maybe, I could've talked some sense into Karen or - "

Jessica shook her head sharply. "That ship has sailed, man. We'd rather you and Karen take off to get your heads together, or get immortal, whatever - than stick around and be miserable. We couldn't fix you any more than you could fix us, and you think you could've fixed Karen?"

"Don't know. Marci sent me her number, I've got a lot of questions for her tomorrow," Frank said. "Hey."

She followed his gaze to where Matt was sleeping on his feet against the dresser. "That new?"

"Nope," she sighed. "He was in the red suit so he was probably out with the boys and they don't keep him caffeinated enough to go all night."

"Not Luke and the kid?" Frank frowned.

"Oh no, they keep him in Starbucks, don't you worry," she said, climbing off the bed and waking Matt with a touch to his neck.

He blinked and then smiled softly. "Sorry."

"We're done talking, lay down, I kept your spot warm," Frank said, smoothing down the bed as he got to his feet. "I'll see you both in the morning."

"Coffee turns on automatically at six, don't take first cup or he'll cut you," Jessica warned, catching his arm before he left the room. "We're glad you're home, Frank." She kissed his cheek chastely.

"Now who's crossing a line?" Matt smiled. Frank snorted and kissed his cheek in retaliation before swaggering out of the room.

"Be asleep when I get back from the bathroom," Jessica said, brushing her fingers through Matt's hair.

"Already there," he hummed, taking her pillow and clutching it to his chest before curling up in his spot.

She had to pick her battles.


	12. overdraft fee

  
No one would ever accuse her son of being punctual, but he was a creature of habit.

Today, he would bring her a cup of coffee with sweet cream and he'd have a separate carton for Father Jenkins to share with the others. They would talk about benign matters like the weather and soft news and be openly seen together in front of the children and gossiping locals that had nothing better to do.

She would finish her coffee and Matthew would accept the Father's invitation to take confession and when he was done, they would have private Devil and prodigal mother time in the garden or inside lounge.

She wasn't breaking her vows or her son's heart. Their meetings were a gift, a blessing and she hoped a sign that Jack forgave her for some of the many ways she'd wronged them both.

She didn't deserve to be a part of her son's life but she was doing her best to earn the right to keep that tiny part.

"You're quiet this morning. Something new on your mind?"

"Something old. Frank's home, he'll probably stop in to see you soon," he replied after a moment.

Ah, that would switch on Matthew's brood setting. "Is he in trouble?"

"I don't think so. I think he's - at loose ends."

Frank Castle was a haunted man who gave his ghosts teeth and weapons instead of laying them to rest but he had a good heart. He had given Matthew comfort when Jessica was still learning how but he'd tapped out before things got too permanent.

She was sure there was more to it, but she did her best to keep her nose out of Matthew's more 'delicate' business, but it had barely been a year after he left that they lost Foggy and - Karen.

"How does Jessica feel about it?"

"We're both happy that he's back, but - I'm having second thoughts," Matt said with a tired sigh.

Oh no. "You two are solid, Matthew." She'd doubted the woman for a long time, even made the mistake of telling her that Frank reminded her of Jack, lying was a sin but it shouldn't have been said aloud. She didn't want Matthew's hard-won relationship to go down in flames after all this time.

"Not about that. Nobody wants me to have a cat."

Oh no. "You're not supposed to know about that."

He scoffed and she smiled at his attitude. God, she had no part in the man he'd become but she still got a wave of pride when she showed his Murdock colors.

"It's not about what other people want, Matthew, she's getting it for you," Maggie said. "It's a gift you won't have to pretend to like. You're not worried about the cat."

"He's upset about Karen."

Get in line. "He's not alone in that, but he'll learn to accept it. Have they been in touch?"

"No, it was brand new information. Didn't know about Foggy either, but maybe we should have told him about Karen," he admitted.

She patted his arm. "I assumed they would be in touch, of course, I thought he'd check in with you and Jessica, too. He made his bed, or left it unmade as it were, now he has to live with it."

Matthew nodded.

She squeezed his arm before pulling away but he covered it with his palm. "Are you still upset about Karen?"

"Yes, unquestionably. She chose immortality over peace, chose a path that will force her to see everyone and anyone she cares about die while she lives on to fight a war she has no business in." She bit off the rest of her reply. "I will always be upset about it. As if we don't have enough to deal with around here with gangsters and ninjas and alien invasions - as if her friends aren't still going to risk their lives when she needs help in her new mess of a - "

"Maggie." She looked up at him, ready to apologize but he only squeezed her hand. "It's okay."

"I've forgiven her, stupidity's not a sin or else we'd all be damned - but I retain my right to be upset about it. Karen understands that, I thought you did, too."

"I do."

She frowned. "You're just riling me up for Frank, aren't you?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Of course not, I'm just getting my bearings. Whenever I get too comfortable, something happens and - it took a while for me to come to terms with everything, and digging it all up again is harder than I expected."

She was going to have a long talk with Frank about upsetting Matthew and Jessica's delicate balance of peace.


	13. fences

"So I hear you drink blood now?"

"Hello to you, too, Frank."

"Cut the shit - "

"Are you seriously mad at me?"

"Yes. No. Fuck. I'm sorry."

"Me, too, but probably not for the reasons you think."

"I'm staying with Matt and Jess."

"Isn't that weird?"

"Yeah. Probably not for the reasons you think."

"They killed Foggy. Got his brains all over LuLu and Marci. He was dead before Foggy hit the ground, I made sure of it - I avenged my best friend within seconds of his - "

"Karen - "

"No - you called expecting an explanation and this is what I have. Vengeance - did nothing for me, Frank. It did nothing for Foggy or Lulu or - nothing. I was no better than the man that killed Foggy - I was the one standing over two bodies with a gun while everyone screamed. There was - will never be - a way to fix all the things I fucked up."

"Karen."

"So I left. Matt - I know *now* that he went silent for everyone, but it felt personal, he just - Foggy was my friend, too, but Matt just - shattered and Lu - "

"Karen."

"I had to leave, I couldn't live with myself if I stayed."

"I would have - "

"We didn't finish the job and they killed Foggy. I would have choked before I called you for help. Sorry."

"Don't - "

"I had to do it myself, cut the strings and take full responsibility for myself - and it - almost worked."

"Almost?"

"I was lonely and I met someone. I trusted him, he didn't trust me, same shit, different day. I should've staked him dead when he told me but..."

"Same shit, different day?"

"Right. Then I got killed, like, actually dead - and the fucker said he could save me and I - didn't want to die, Frank."

"I'm glad you're not dead, but - "

"I don't regret it. I can't - I'm still here for a reason. Everything I've gone through, all the friends I've made, the friends that have died for me, because of me - I'm still here for a reason."

"I'd really like to fucking see you."

"It's complicated, but - I'm working on it."

"What's complicated about it? Everyone said you come for holidays so it's not like you're hiding your new - stuff."

"I'm a newly turned untethered vampire who's unwilling to ally with any established faction. I have to give three months notice to travel outside of my territory."

"Oh."

"Don't spread that around, Matt worries too much. Marci knows that I've got an application out there, but - there's a lot more politics involved in vampire life than I expected."

"I could use your backup around here, is there anything I can do?"

"I don't need to be saved, Frank."

"That's not - I just meant, I could ask Dinah, maybe she knows someone?"

"God, please no, fuck the Feds. Hell's Kitchen is a - unique area, it's considered off limits to vampires but I've gotten cleared to visit two years in a row. The locals here are all asking why I'm so special and the New York vamps suspect God knows what since I asked for residency."

"If the vamps don't come into Hell's Kitchen, who gives the clearance?"

"I have no clue, I'm still working out the logistics of all this bullshit but I'm trying to follow the rules when I know them. I have to wait. I think Sister Maggie knows, the Catholics and the vampires go way back but she's not very happy with me."

"Jess warned me."

"Same shit, different day. The one person that can probably help me doesn't trust my motives."

"Have you asked her?"

"She's so disappointed in me. I hate it."

"Oh, so big scary vampire's afraid of a little disappointment? Ask her, Karen. If you're serious then prove it. I want to see you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(eee I'm almost on schedule for word count, squeals into the void)_


	14. ripples

"You're already making a mess," Sister Maggie said when Frank opened the door to her before dawn.

He didn't have a chance to recover from the finger pointing accusation before she hugged him.

"Matt heard you coming but did we miss a call?" Jessica bellowed from upstairs.

"I need an escort. Blame your guest, not it," Sister Maggie yelled back. 

At least it seemed like Jessica and Maggie had a better relationship than he remembered but there sounded like a lot of stomping upstairs so he honestly wasn't sure what was happening here.

"Sister Maggie, I meant to come see you yesterday but - "

"You needed to talk to your undead ex-girlfriend first, which I would respect more if it hadn't opened a can of worms no one has the time or patience to deal with right now."

Matt appeared, visibly concerned. "Is Karen okay? What's going on?"

"Karen wants to come back permanently so now I have to go play nice with - " Sister Maggie started but Jessica stomped down the stairs in her favorite face-kicking boots and leather jacket.

"Really? She pulls this shit now?"

"She went through regular channels on her own, I think she told Marci but - " Sister Maggie answered.

"Everybody stop and tell me what's going on," Frank interrupted.

Matt ignored him, turning to Jess and cupping her clenched jaw. "It's because of Karen?"

"Yes, and it sucks and no, you're still not allowed to ask," Jessica replied in a soft but steely tone. Matt slowly lowered his hand and she bit at his fingers, apparently forgiven.

Maggie turned to Frank with an apologetic look, meeting his gaze. "Matthew has an agreement with the Black Sky."

"Elektra?" Frank gasped. Damn. "What kind of agreement - and what does it have to do with Karen?"

"No heartbeat, I don't like people without heartbeats in the Kitchen," Matt said quietly. "Take Danny with you?"

"We always do, go get dressed and I'll send him up with your coffee," Jessica said. Matt hesitated but hurried back up the stairs.

"Matthew has an agreement with us, too," Sister Maggie said. "We've requested he not visit with her. Ever."

Jessica sighed. "Not ever. We had drinks with her last year when we helped her fight those rogue golems in Chelsea. She's not dangerous, at least not to Matt."

Frank didn't believe a word.

"She's dangerous because of what she does to his head," Maggie snapped.

"Okay, so you obviously haven't had your coffee yet either - go, there's creamer in the fridge if you promise not to mess up the shelves again."

"Why put braille labels down if you're not going to - " Maggie muttered under her breath but shuffled away.

"The hell is this, Jess?" Frank hissed.

She scrubbed at her face. "Matt made the deal with Elektra after a particular rough battle at the docks, Danny almost lost an eye and since her ninja minions have no heartbeat, it seemed like a safe way to phrase it. The Hand's always kept the vampires out of the Kitchen, long before any of us were born or Elektra was in charge and it's not like they were a variable in the deal at the time. He thought he was getting the ninjas out of his city, not preemptively banning one of his best friends from the borough."

"Shit. So - "

"Yeah. Vamps gave Hell's Kitchen a wide berth already but Elektra - well, the bitch doesn't care about much, but she loves her Matthew," Jessica snarled. "She will not hesitate to start a war and now the vamps are turning up with a permission slip for Karen."

Frank swiveled sharply when the door opened without a knock and Danny Rand stepped into the house uninvited with a pet carrier in his hand.

"Sorry I'm late but Champ hates the subway so much, and I had to get her if we're going where I think we're going," Danny said, lowering the cage to the carpet and letting out an oversized fluffy cat. One of those Maine Coon ones with all the fur. "Oh, hey Frank, Marce said you were back in town."

"_Marce_?" Frank asked blankly, staring at the cat who stared right back.

Danny flushed. "Um. It's none of your business?"

"Good answer," Jessica smiled. The cat darted up the stairs. "Thanks for bringing the furball, maybe it'll distract Matt if Frank can't get his head out of his ass."

"Can I go?" Frank asked. "I mean, I did push Karen when she said she was considering coming back."

Danny raised both hands and followed his cat up the stairs.

"If you really want to pull your weight around here, you'll watch Matt until we get back," Jessica said. The cat meowed loudly from upstairs.

"Is that the anniversary cat?" Frank asked.

"God no, that's Danny's monster but Matt loves her as much as Lulu. It's a fucking _problem_, he's getting a short-hair solid-colored cat that doesn't talk."

He should not have asked, he didn't really want to fall into the fucking cat fixation everyone had right now.

Jessica smoothed her hands down his arms and squeezed his wrists. "Karen doesn't know Elektra's her undead sponsor, it's tricky enough that Matt has to know. Danny's ex and Elektra have a truce that's been keeping the ninja trouble at a minimum and nobody's looking to start any vampire drama over a mailing address. We know what we're doing."

"Really?" he challenged and she released him with a flip of her hair. "Fine, I trust Sister Maggie knows what she's doing at least, but - I guess Karen wasn't kidding about the vampire politics."

Matt and Danny came downstairs, Champ draped around Matt's neck like a scarf with claws. It was slightly unsettling to get glared at so thoroughly by a cat but the trade off seemed to be how completely settled Matt was under his watch.

"Everybody good?" Danny asked.

"I'm taking Champ to the office if you're not back by nine," Matt said.


	15. jingle jangle

"So, isn't it weird to have Frank back and, like, staying in your house? Because it seems weird," Danny said as he weaved the car through the thin traffic toward Elektra's lair of the week.

Sister Maggie made a dismissive sound from the backseat. "Everything about Matthew's life is considered weird by normal definitions."

Jessica crossed her arms. "It is probably weird, but he's important to Matt. And me, but mostly Matt."

Danny knew that, but he expected them to find him a healthier place to stay.

"We'll figure it out, just like we're going to figure it out for Karen - but we've got to make sure they know that honesty is a thing. No more surprises," Jess said.

"Matt knows about the anniversary cat," Maggie offered.

"Matt hears everything, he's always known about the cat. And it's not like we didn't discuss it at length - will we be home enough to take care of it, do we have enough savings to get it through school - " Jessica started.

"How are things with you and Marci?" Maggie asked.

He avoided Jessica's searching look. "None of your business, no offense and all, just, she doesn't want me to talk about it."

"You know it's not because - " Jessica started but he waved her off.

"I know, she brought up holidays and like, what was I supposed to say? I always spend them with Luke or you guys so the Nelsons know me. She says if I show up with her and Lu instead of just tagging in a guest seat like normal that it'll be a big deal. She doesn't want it to be a big deal."

"Danny - "

He shook his head. "I know, Jess. I'm preparing myself for her to break it off a few days before Thanksgiving, Matt says she'll probably pick a fight, make it last through the holidays and then turn up after New Years with flowers. Her family hated Foggy, she used to do it to him every year to get him out of the bougie drama."

"That's ridiculous," Maggie huffed but Jessica shrugged.

"Matt knows her best but you seem entirely too okay with it," Jessica said.

"Colleen wants me to bring Champ to Vegas so they can spend Christmas together. We did agree to share custody and all that, but maybe I need to hang out with Misty and Ward a little and give Marci her space this year."

"Matt doesn't like it when you go to Vegas," Jessica murmured.

"Because Matt is clingy and codependent," Danny completed for her.

Not that Danny would trade his clingy codependency for anything. If Ward was the closest thing he had to a brother, Matt was an overprotective uncle - always ready with a lecture and a hug and endless forgiveness. Ward would pay in advance for a trip to urgent care, sure, but Matt would put him in a headlock and bridal carry him through the doors.

"You're not doing it to make Marci jealous?" Jessica asked.

"What? Why would I do that? She knows Colleen and I share custody of Champ, the only reason she lives with me most of the year is because she hates the desert. Me and Marci are just dating, she's not ready for more than that."

"Are you?" Maggie asked quietly.

"I could be, but I'm so different from Foggy - she needs to take her time before she moves on. Lulu doesn't need a new daddy and I'm fine with being 'uncle' - I don't need to be Papa or Daddy," he said. "She needs someone that can wear that hat, too and she doesn't have to move on right away." At least Matt wasn't here with his whole polygraph ears. 

"We're going to have some drinks alone soon, Danny. Maybe you're listening to Matt too much," Jessica said.

"I would never say that to Matt. I mean, I've only been with Colleen and we moved from meet-cute to the bedroom, dating was an afterthought. There's nothing wrong with trying things a different way with Marci."

"Don't know why you're talking to Matthew about 'dating', I don't think he understands the concept," Maggie murmured.

"He dated Karen, took her out to dinner and everything," Jessica pointed out.

"And look how well that turned out," she countered.

"Okay, time out, we're almost at Elektra's, how are we going to play this?" Danny redirected. They'd visited the woman before but he didn't want it to become too routine - the Black Sky would be all over that mistake.

"I'm going to threaten her thoroughly, Jessica will glare and you'll shine your glowing fist at all her soulless pets. Rinse and repeat," Maggie said.

Okay, then. Routine it was.


	16. dust

  
"Oh, is it that time already?" Elektra asked when the assistant led in Matthew's nun, boy ninja and the Bitch.

She couldn't fault Matthew's taste, the Bitch was probably a fiery lover and she'd held her place at his side too long to be decapitated or ignored as a competitor.

"Thank you for seeing us, Ms. Natchios. We understand your time is valuable," the nun said, making sure each word dripped with disgust.

Matthew's nun was a baffling creature, so fierce with protective love considering she'd abandoned him as a babe. Still, she was too near and dear to her Devil to kill or ignore.

She'd let the Iron Fist live entirely too long as well, but Matthew was so touchy about his things and the Daughter of the Dragon had sympathizers within Elektra's ranks and it had been interesting, at least, to focus on external threats instead of sparking off internal ones.

The Bitch cleared her throat and she remembered her etiquette. She hadn't spent much time with mortals lately and she needed to adjust.

Names were important. "Of course, Sister Margaret. What brings you to me? Is Matthew - " Surely they would be more disheveled if something had happened - 

"He's fine. Karen wants to come home," the Bitch said. Jessica. Ah, she remembered. And Karen, the newly dead.

"Does she have control of her mind and functions or is she soulless?"

Sister Margaret glanced at Jessica and Iron Fist. "As we explained last time - "

Last time? Oh. "Ah."

"Did you bring an offering? She is - jet lagged," the assistant lied.

The nun reluctantly reached into her dress and passed a rosary to the Bitch. The nun didn't like getting too close to her.

"Even swap, right?"

She nodded, holding out her arm so the assistant could unwind the beads and carefully remove the decoration from her wrist and drop the fresh gift into her fingers.

Matthew. Still a damned fool with his faith in false gods and pure souls. She pressed the tiny cross to her cheek. The smooth beads from his endless prayers, threaded between his fingers.

"Apologies, she stabbed someone with the cross so we had to order a replacement, it's from the same company but the Black Sky did not think he would appreciate the - damage," the assistant was saying.

"I lose myself with the dead, it is understandable that he fears Karen will lose herself as well," Elektra said, names and memories clearing with the new, or new again, trinket. "She has gone this long without declaring allegiance, but I fear her youth and unfamiliarity with her new power will cause - distress."

"She's fine, she's on top of it," Jessica snarled.

"Synthetic blood makes her weak and I wonder if she's encountered fresh blood without preparation time, young vampires are supposed to be groomed and tended appropriately, not unleashed without proper training," she continued. "She must fully embrace her new instincts if she has any hope of controlling them without a Sire or overseer."

She waved over the assistant before her guests could start a defense. "Is her sire dead?"

"No, she banished him. Shamed him on Facebook and everything." She took the extended phone and scanned the screen. Impressive. Two points for Karen.

"She's a fast learner, caught on as paralegal with on the job training and learned how to be a reporter all by herself - she'll learn," Danny said.

"Perhaps. But allowing her to live in a territory I've promised to be free of undead threats would make me a liar. Her threat level must be judged. Lars, what have we learned?"

Lars smiled at the use of his name. He was a good assistant, an ally among so many of the obediently brainless yes-men that she needed to fill her ranks. He was one of the few that preferred her time spent in daylight and above ground. He was also not afraid of her, which made him dangerous and special.

"She utilizes the vampiric speed and eyesight, also noted is her improved scent, night vision and hearing. She has not learned mind control, flight or illusions, but those skills are normally learned and honed by the factions according to territory restrictions," Lars said. "She has not killed humans or fed from a living thing but she has dispatched three of her own kind and disposed of them without consequence."

Two more points for Karen.

Sister Maggie spoke, wary. "Should we ask why you know all that?" 

"Perhaps," she shrugged. "I am willing to allow Karen permanent residency on the condition she receives proper training in her skills. Lars?"

"The church has vampires within their ranks, the Sister could request an apprenticeship for her with a nonviolent trainer," he replied immediately.

"Really?" Jessica directed at Maggie who avoided her look with a frown.

"She is one of the Devil's closest friends and should make use of the skills at her disposal. I will accept training from a pacifist but I expect her to be an expert in the highest competency level. And get her off that fake blood, Franklin's brother is still a butcher, correct?"

"Okay, so if we find her a mentor then you'll sign off on her staying in Hell's Kitchen?" Jessica asked, ignoring her question.

She ran her fingers over the beaded rosary. "Lars? How is Matthew?"

"He still visits Mr. Nelson's grave every night but his visits are short enough to be considered 'fine'," Lars replied.

"Back up," Jessica snapped.

She raised her hand and Danny caught Jessica's arm to quiet her. "I would be more concerned if he did not visit Franklin. He is well, otherwise?"

"He's fine, fuck you," Jessica hissed.

"Then our business here can be concluded. You will contact me when you have secured a proper tutor and Lars will set things in motion with the vampires," Elektra said.

"We appreciate your - assistance," Sister Maggie nodded before Danny dragged her and Jessica out of the room.


	17. dreamer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm playing fast and loose with Matt's 'powers', I know they probably don't work quite this way but we're on day eight and I'm maudlin so this 'verse can be like that.

  
He strummed his fingers down Champ's vibrating spine, soaking up the sensation of her soft fur against his skin.

The anniversary cat had become a running joke to a lot of people, but Jessica's whispered suggestion all those weeks ago still brought a warmth deep in chest.

It wasn't practice for having a kid like Champ had been for Colleen and Danny and it wasn't to learn responsibility and remember to eat and drink clean water twice a day like Wade's unnamed box of kittens - soon to be cats since he kept 'forgetting' to take them to the shelter.

Jessica wanted him to have a cat because she thought it would help him **rest**. Sleeping was difficult, to say the least, but even when he was asleep or dozing, he was never able to _rest_.

Foggy had been his touchstone. When they were on the outs, giving each other the silent treatment - Foggy had still been his tether to the humanity he wanted to help - the humanity he was terrified of losing.

He told Jessica once that he didn't know who he was without Foggy but he hadn't known how very true it would be.

He never took a case without considering if Foggy would approve. He never took a step in Hell's Kitchen without having a memory of taking one there with Fogs. He never threw a punch without thinking about how it didn't save Foggy.

_"Matt?"_

He raised his head at Frank's voice.

"Jessica called me when you didn't pick up your phone. Am I interrupting?"

He smoothed his thumb between Champ's perked ears so she didn't hiss. He didn't like the unhappy sound of her hiss.

He was distracted by the cat and didn't clock Frank's careful touch, feather light but radiating heat, against his bare shoulder, then his neck. "I thought you were getting dressed for work. You all right?"

Was he all right? His mother, his girlfriend and his partner in crime were walking into danger so he didn't have to face Elektra.

He could visit his father, visit Foggy and apologize to their dust for letting them die - but Elektra and Karen still walked the earth - they were the ghosts. They were voices in an empty room if they weren't in motion, no blood pulsing through their veins for him to sense, only the waves in the air from their lips or the movement of their hair and clothes.

_"Matt."_

"Will they be back soon?" he asked, settling his hand on Champ's back and letting himself go still.

"Yeah. Were you worried?"

"No. Elektra's dangerous, but we stay out of each other's way. We're - bound together, for better or worse. I - would like to visit her, but - " he motioned vaguely with his hand and Frank shifted, nodding but they both knew he didn't get it. "I'm told it's not good for me."

"Then why are you having a moment? I don't want to make it worse," Frank said. "But I'd like to know if you're okay right now."

"I'm okay." Champ kneaded her paws into his thigh and he stroked her back. "Karen's coming home, that's a good thing."

Frank didn't reply right away, thoughtful. "Karen doesn't give off body heat, it messes you up, doesn't it? Like Elektra?"

He took Frank's hand from his neck, squeezing his fingers. "She won't touch me. I flinched the first time and - it's hard for me to track her without contact, to map her out in a crowd. She thinks I'm trying to stalk her but it's - "

"You can't see her."

He let go of his hand and returned his full attention to the cat. "I hear my father's voice sometimes. Bad times. And Foggy, sometimes I hear him, too. Hallucinations can't touch me. Karen can but - I shouldn't have to explain it, not to her. I have to use a proxy to have contact with Elektra, I won't do that with Karen. If she's moving back, forever, I don't know how to make her understand without pushing her further away and - she's so far away already."

"Have you told her?"

"Sure. But we don't always understand each other without - " _Foggy_. "She won't be on a timeline when she comes over this time. We'll figure it out."  



	18. puff

"I don't know what's my business and what's not," Frank said, draining the beer Luke slid in front of him when he wandered in after lunch.

Luke didn't mind falling into the patient and nonjudgmental bartender stereotype, but it was always different when a friend, or a friend of a friend, was the one spilling their guts. "Not sure I can help since, well, there's some overlap." He swapped the bottle for a new beer.

Frank glanced at him with tired eyes. "You were around them, _after_. Matt hears voices?"

Yeah, definitely not Frank's business. "It's happening again?"

"No, no. Shit, he tried to explain about Elektra and Karen and why - "

Luke relaxed. "Okay, good. You're staying with him and obviously he didn't tell you when you were around, but yes, it's a thing that happens when he's off his game. Black Sky's triggers the old blind bastard, his mom triggers Battlin' Jack and, well, now Karen - "

Frank inhaled sharply. "She triggers Foggy. Christ."

"I don't think it's happened in a while. Why were you talking about Elektra? Is she back on the radar?" 

"I didn't know she was ever on the radar," Frank sighed.

"She pops up from time to time, she's still human enough to take an interest but usually Colleen handles her kind of trouble."

"Sister Maggie, Jessica and Danny went to see her this morning for Karen. Matt - he zoned out, fixated on the cat and when they got back, Jess yelled at him about something and then - poof - they went to work like nothing happened," Frank said.

"Then nothing probably happened," Luke defended.

Frank tilted his beer at him. "See? What's my business and what's not? Do I need to tell Jess what Matt said to me since she yelled - "

Luke shook his head to stop him a moment before the door jingled with Jessica's arrival. He had her drink ready before she slumped onto the stool beside Frank.

He wasn't prepared for her to turn dark eyes on him instead of her nosy houseguest. "Did you know Matt goes to the grave every night?"

_Oh_. "Yeah? Someone always goes with him and it's never for too long. We usually go before dark, but Wade likes to take him after because of the whole melted face thing. You know that."

"I didn't know it was **every** night - and I really didn't need to hear it from Elektra, God, I hate her so much," Jessica groaned.

Frank hesitantly reached over to pat her back but she shook it off with a glare. "Don't be nice to me right now, it's like you got fucking declawed on your goddamn murder sabbatical," she snapped.

Luke thumped her hard on the head and pushed the glass against her knuckles. "Drink, it's too early for a brawl, I need the lunch crowd to think this place is respectable." He turned back to Frank.

"It's good news that you caught him 'zoned out' with Champ," Luke said firmly. "Matt hasn't been able to meditate since Foggy and cats help, _some_ cats, not all. Ask her about the rest."

Jess narrowed her eyes at Frank. "Did he say something?"

"He said hallucinations can't touch, that's why he's worried about Karen being back full time," Frank said.

She blinked, unsurprised. "That's not new. He's got a handle on it."

"Then why don't you let him see Elektra?" Frank challenged.

"He's the 'tether that keeps her from falling in the abyss', that's a straight quote," Jessica muttered. "Give her something of his and she gets color in her skin, her eyes clear - but if he gets near her, brushes her hand, she fucking _breathes_ and Matt just - " She tapped the empty glass and Luke refilled it obediently. "He'd save her if he could, ten years dead and he'd **still** \- "

"It's not your business, Frank," Luke cut her off and gave him a pointed look. "We've been managing Elektra for years." He turned to Jess. "And you - don't get to tell Matt how to grieve. Just because this is all new to him, doesn't mean the rest of us have to go back to the beginning. You let Elektra get in your head."

"Fuck, I know," she sighed. "She was extra 'off' today, her little lapdog told us she's spending more time underground and not overseas like we thought. Says she barely answers to her real name anymore."

Damn. Luke had fought beside the Black Sky a couple of times when the battle gave them no other choice than to ask for help - or vice versa - and Elektra had been clever and cool, not dead-eyed and malicious like the other encounters.

The door jingled and Matt arrived, rumpled yet smooth, situation normal from first glance but he directed his stick to tap against Frank and Jessica's stools without sitting down.

"Bar's still soundproof before you ask," Matt lied. Luke bit back his snort, all attempts to block the bar from Devil ears had proved minimally effective. "I'm activating Special Snowflake protocol."

Jessica gasped. "**No.** It's a weeknight and we have too much - "

Matt smirked, the bastard, and explained for Frank's benefit. "You're treating me like a fragile, snowflake which means I have to reassert my status."

"Status?" Frank blinked.

"Can I tag in?" Luke asked. He could go for some action if the Devil was turning up the volume.

"Wade found that meth lab in Bed Stuy and Spidey has some new plasma balls to test. Might get loud," Matt said.

Luke clenched his fists and started plotting who he could ask to work the bar tonight. "Got a new mask, I'm in."

"Please don't do this now," Jessica groaned. "I'm sorry I jumped on you and I'm - "

"Nope, gotta prove my manhood to my girl," Matt said, kissing her forehead. "Can't let her think I'm going soft."


	19. curdle

  
"Took you long enough," Amy answered when he finally decided to man up and call her with an update.

Frank closed the door to shut out the sound of the gathered SO's (significant others, not necessarily superior officers) in the kitchen. "Had to settle in first."

"So you're out of the hotel already? I'm so proud."

"How's Max?"

"He doesn't miss you at all."

Frank stretched out on the bed. "Good."

"Aw, what's wrong? You don't sound settled."

"Everything's different."

"You knew it would be, you were gone like, half a decade. Your exes married with kids or something?"

"Something, and I didn't come back for romance. I came back for - " God, it was hard to explain.

"So you could get a yard for Max and make amends to your friends, I know. I'm just harassing you. How is it really?"

"Different. I missed a lot. Remember Karen?"

"Sure, pretty blonde, but you were a dick to her. Thought you hooked up with her ex and another chick, is Karen back in the picture?"

"She - she's a vampire now, she moved away and got herself killed."

"Shit. Wait, are you thinking if you stayed - you're as dumb as that rock Max barks at all the time," Amy huffed. "And if she's a vampire, she's not technically dead, right? She can still be tried in a court of law and has to pay taxes."

Frank blinked at the ceiling. "How do you know that?"

"I went to some classes."

"Collateral damage from something I did for her got one of our friends killed, for real, too," he confessed. "Matt's best friend."

"Ouch. Where are you staying?"

"Matt's."

Amy didn't say anything for a long moment. "So - he's not mad at you?"

"They got a house, this happy little home. Domestic routines and shit."

"Maybe you should go back to the hotel. This was supposed to be a good thing for you - "

"Don't get your footie pajamas in a twist, today was just bumpy."

"It's your second day back and it's already bumpy?"

"Karen's a vampire and Foggy's dead. Matt and Jess are so in love that I'm waiting for butterflies to pop up and nobody, not even the cops, have pointed a gun at me yet," Frank blurted out. "Foggy's widow let me meet her kid. The hell am I doing here, Amy?"

"Watering those roots you put down years ago? Come on, Punisher, suck it up. Of course you feel out of place, you haven't had a chance to make one yet. Have you just been wandering around feeling sorry for yourself?"

"No. They're setting up a movie and cards, I think. I told them I was retired so I didn't get invited to their vigilante games."

"Wait, you're stuck home with the wives?" 

Frank snorted. "That's so offensive, I'm not going to respond to it."

There was a soft knock on the door and Jen stuck her head and shoulders in. "Any allergies or special requests for vegan or kosher snacks before we call in the order?"

Amy collapsed into laughter and he frowned at the phone before responding. "Nah, I'll eat whatever, you need money?"

"Jess is using the Defenders' card to stick it to them for leaving her behind. We're having Thai, Italian and buffalo wings," Jen said. "Come out when you're done, we're waiting on you to pick a movie."

"Sure thing, thanks," he added. Jen was just as friendly after doing her research as the first time they'd met and he appreciated it. Hell's Kitchen's heroes definitely skewed to the grey side of black or white intentions, the green was a nice addition.

"You did not tell me that Matt and Jessica were hipsters, oh my God, when can I come visit?"

"They're not - never mind. They already hassling me about inviting you up but I have to find a place of my own first so you can bring my dog with you."

"I broke up with Garret."

"You waited until I left to do it? I would have loved to see that little - " 

Amy cleared her throat. "Exactly why I waited."

"Guy's name was 'Garret', what did you expect?"

"Shut up. He was nice. Had great weed, made sure I kept his dealer's number."

Atta girl. 


	20. infobomb

Marci burst through Matt's door expecting to catch him complaining about her on Matt's shoulder and battling robots with Luke and Jessica on the big screen Danny bought for them as a housewarming slash Defenders gift.

She did not expect Jessica, Jen, Frank and those college kids that followed Matt around. Champ, the bitch, had a seat to herself at the table of card-players. "Oh."

"Do you even lock the door around here?" Frank asked after a beat.

"Fingerprint scanner," Jessica replied, tucking her cards into pocket to hide them from the others as she hurried to her side. "Are you all right? What's wrong, where's Lu?"

"At Theo's for the night. Is Matt here?"

"He's out blowing up drug dealers," Ned offered with a wave. "Hi, Mrs. Nelson!"

She didn't know they still had the vigilante vigils. "Hi, Ned, MJ."

"Why is Lulu at Theo's on a school night?" Jessica asked.

"Date night," Jen whispered. Champ licked a paw, looked directly at Marci and hissed, flattening her ears.

"You want a drink? Matt's probably got some of your fizzy water on his shelf," Jessica said. "I'm on the shit list, too so you're among friends."

Jen raised her fist and bumped knuckles with MJ. Of course their relationships were fine, they were babies. "Should we deal again?"

Champ hissed and puffed up her fur.

"He didn't give me a chance to apologize," she told the cat.

"Come on," Jessica said, guiding her safely past Champ into the kitchen so she could sit on a stool and bang her head against the counter. "Do you want me to call him?"

"I was a bitch," Marci admitted. "I didn't think he'd go out, doing whatever, to spite me."

"My fault," Jessica said. "Marci, do you still go to see Foggy?"

"We go when Foggy's parents are in town and when Lu has one of the nightmares. Matt goes all the time," Marci replied, accepting the offered bottle of seltzer. "Why?"

"I didn't know Matt went so - frequently."

Marci stood up and embraced the woman. Jess was a fucking friend and she forgot sometimes that her best friend and sister was locked away in a floating jail.

"I don't deserve a hug for being oblivious. I thought - I don't know what I thought. That he was doing better."

"He's doing great, we both are. Whatever coping mechanisms we're using have gotten us this far. I mean, I might be shit at dating but I came here before popping a bottle; and he might be shit at grieving, but he's not hiding it from you. Unless - "

"I don't think he was hiding it, I just didn't notice. Elektra - " She made a disgusted noise and Jessica laughed gratefully. "Right? She mentioned it when we met with her. She's going to approve Karen's residency, so the trip wasn't just for drama at least. What happened with Danny?"

"He brought me flowers, asked if he could bring Champ over to play with LuLu and I - told him that he couldn't do shit like that without asking first, I don't have the house set up for that beast and Lu would never go to Theo's if there was a cat around."

"He brought Champ for Matt this morning, so that's probably my fault, too," Jessica said.

"No, I - "

"Are you really going to break up with him so you don't have to deal with telling the Nelsons you're dating?" Jessica blurted out. "Because that's shitty."

"No! I mean, no. Maybe, but no, I - I need to think about it," Marci stumbled. "I promised Matt I wouldn't break his heart."

"Then don't," Jessica said. "Theo knows, doesn't he?"

Marci avoided her eyes. "I can't. He'll tell Anna and - "

"Marci."

"I know, it's shitty. I'm working on it." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. Maybe she should have popped a bottle. "He knows I'm dating, but not that I have a boyfriend. God, Danny's my boyfriend."

"Maybe you should treat him like it every once and a while," Jess suggested. "We can't be the only people you double date with."

"We go out with Luke and Jen, sometimes. At approved restaurants," she whispered. "I'm fucking this up, aren't I?"

"Probably, but you wouldn't be one of us if you weren't a fuck up. It's okay if you need more time, Marci."

"He's upset I haven't bonded with his cat, he said we have to take a break to make sure we want to keep dating. I don't want a break, Jess, I - I need to talk to Matt," Marci sighed.

"No, you need to talk to Danny."

Fuck.


	21. blackjack

"It's not a Defenders' gig, it's a - what - Team Red, yeah," Jen said helpfully when Frank asked her the real reason Jessica wasn't out fighting with the masked men in the news at eleven highlights.

"Jess and Wade don't get along," Marci added. "He's just as tactile as Matt but without the impulse control."

Frank watched the blonde stroking Jessica's hair absently, like a surrogate sister for the one she couldn't see outside of a video screen in jail.

The college kids he'd been advised not to recognize outside of Hell's Kitchen had left in good spirits but had classes and responsibilities that they couldn't avoid like the asshole grown ups still scattered around the big screen.

"It takes a lot to make Jessica jealous, but that guy makes her turn as green as me," Jen winked.

"He's a hot mess. We thought he was just a replacement soldier for your stupid ass but he's a lot more fucked in the head than you. Spider-Man brought him for legal help."

"Carried him into Matt's office in a garbage can because he was in, like, eight pieces," Jen nodded.

"_Trash_," Jessica murmured in her sleep.

"Spidey's a softie," Marci sighed with a smile. "But Wade's got schizophrenia, PTSD and a shit-ton of governments after him on days that end in 'y'. Of course Matt wanted to help him, but not all supersoldiers end up like Bucky Barnes."

"He's allowed to have friends I don't like, he just has shitty taste," Jessica grumbled. "Always gets on TV with Deadpool."

Frank winced at the confirmation of the identity of 'Wade' but he wasn't one to judge, at least not without a weapon in his hand. He kind of wanted a weapon in his hand the first time he met the guy.

"Lost causes," Jen shrugged. "But he helped me move into my place and a friend that helps me move is a friend for life."

He glanced back at the screen where Marci and Jen were transfixed. Matt, unmistakeable in his red horned getup was spinning through the air until Spider-Man caught both hands and swung him like a trapeze performer into the cluster of armed men brawling with Luke and Danny in the streets.

Danny and Luke were wearing red hoodies in solidarity with the Team Red but he could see how having Jessica in the fray would make it an undeniable Defenders op.

"You don't go out with them?" he asked Jen.

"God no, I've helped my cousin out a few times with the Avengers but it's kind of hard for me to have a secret identity when I'm green full time," she said. "The only visible contact I can have with the vigilantes is when I'm defending them in court."

"Or dating Luke Cage," Marci teased.

"It's usually just Wade, Matt and Spidey, the others just come along when they're invited," Jen said.

Jessica blinked out of her half-doze and sat up, stretching. "We're better at asking for backup than we used to be. Matt can run around with his boys when he gets too stressed as long as he doesn't give me shit if I go on a drinking binge in Atlantic City."

"That's scheduled for next week, right?" Marci asked.

"Oh yeah," Jessica grinned.


	22. red rover

  
Dinah pushed open the door of the bar with mixed feelings. She was happy enough, content at least, in her new job at the New York office of the NSA. It wasn't actually the NSA, but it was the closest alphabet agency to her job description and she wasn't officially backed by anyone. Sure, she had bosses and got a paycheck but the threats she investigated weren't meant for the public.

It wasn't a desk job, but she desperately tried to make it one. She sent out the eager agents under her umbrella to shake down sources and schmooze contacts. She liked to think she was a good boss, paid for drinks and therapy for the ones on the edge and never send anyone on a job they couldn't handle.

So why the hell had she assigned this task to herself?

Fuck, she knew why - fuck if she was going to let anyone else have this job. She scanned the bar, more filled than she expected for lunch and made her way to a free stool.

"Well, fuck."

She blinked at Frank Castle, in the flesh, hunched over a newspaper. "Frank?"

"Are you looking for me?" he asked, narrowing his eyes but without the same malice and threat from their first interactions. They were way past that now.

"No, but - " Huh. Frank probably knew the man she was looking for, especially if he was here.

"What can I get your friend, Frankie?" the bartender asked, placing a coaster down for her.

"Coffee, black," Dinah said, smiling widely at the man when Frank shifted unhappily. "Frankie and I are great friends."

"You really not here to bust my balls?" Frank whispered.

"Really," she whispered back. "I'm chasing a dead end, so I should have figured I'd run into you. When did you leave Miami?"

"Few days ago. Looking for a place to rent nearby. Got friends, no - family here," Frank said, cutting his eyes to the bartender and beyond to a set of framed photographs. It wasn't his late wife and kids or Marines, but the thin blonde that asked too many questions and a spattering of vigilantes she recognized. Huh. "Was going to call you when I got settled."

"Don't let me rush you."

"What brings you to Hell's Kitchen?" 

She considered lying but again, they were past that. "What brings anyone to the Kitchen? Boss wants me to try and find the Devil."

The bartender and Frank shared a look as he put the coffee down in front of her. Jackpot.

"Not for any of the reasons you're thinking," she said immediately. "He's been known to help law enforcement under special circumstances and I've been asked to try and get an introduction."

"How'd you land on this place?" Bartender asked.

"He's a Defender and this is your bar," Dinah said, letting him know she knew exactly who he was.

"What kind of special circumstances you talking about?" Frank asked.

"You're off the radar, Frank, you really want to know?" she countered.

"Oh yeah."

"We got a lead that the vampires are making an alliance with some ninjas that know your boy," Dinah said with a nod to Luke.

Frank threw up his hands and Luke did an actual facepalm. She expected disbelief or maybe surprise not immediate understanding.

"Guess I'm in the right place."


	23. nip

  
Jessica ignored the curious looks and muted 'awws' from the waiting room and placed the smoky gray kitten into Matt's arms. She knew most of the clients were gone for the day but she'd been followed from the shelter. Everyone was in her business.

He looked slightly surprised, he was in his gray suit but he had a cut above his eyebrow and three splinted fingers cupped underneath the gift.

"Why - "

"We keep putting it off and - YOLO, so, she's ready. She's a shelter cat but been through six weeks of training. She's too skittish for the pediatric ward with her siblings and too cute to go back in the system."

Matt flinched as if she'd said the magic words to make him defend the cat with his life. This might go horribly wrong. "Little General?"

"No, Champ vetoed that one," Jen whispered from where she was snooping in the door. 

Matt's face crumpled suddenly. "You asked Champ?"

"She's going to need a friend for playdates just like we do. I want - us to stay in a good place. I'm in a good place, but I depend on you too much," she said when he looped an arm around her. "I need you to be in a good place, too - "

"I love you," Matt said, kissing her hair, her forehead and finally her lips.

"Meow."

"Her name's Cuddle Puff," Jessica said and Matt laughed into her mouth.

"Oh my God, can I tweet? PLEASE let me have first tweet," Jen demanded.

"I'm taking the rest of the afternoon off," Matt announced.

"Pictures first."

"I didn't want to wait any longer. Everything's in flux but it's always going to be - with Frank and Karen bringing their complications back to town, we need to keep the balance we've worked so hard for. You get a cat to help you focus and I get a bed-buddy when you're out playing with bombs."

His face crumpled again. "You're going to let her on the bed? What do you want, really, a new motorcycle or - "

"I want us to make it without dying or going nuts a few more years. Our track record's not the best but - "

"Our track record is awesome, Jess. And you don't depend on me too much - "

"I have more nightmares than you - "

"Because I don't sleep - "

"And I can't quit drinking or I - "

"You have to sleep - "

"_Meow._"

A flurry of snaps alerted them that their privacy limit had been exceeded for the day. Of course.


	24. market

  
"You sure this is all right?" Dinah whispered even as she followed Frank into the house with her arms full of groceries

"Unless you want to wait a few more days," Frank shrugged. He could tell from Jessica's annoyed yet amused invitation that Matt was going to be caught up with the new cat for the immediate future. "Besides, I owe you a homemade dinner."

"You're cooking? Thank fuck, I am in no mood," Jessica called, sticking her head out of the living room. "That her?"

"Jessica Jones, this is Dinah Madani, please be nice," he added.

Both women rolled their eyes at him.

"Nice to finally meet the legend, without threat of arrest, right, Frank?" Jessica smiled.

"I'm off duty. I appreciate the invitation," Dinah said, shaking her hand.

"Better half's settling up the cat ladder," Jessica nodded.

Frank knew better than to ask why the blind guy was in charge of hanging shelves when he glimped Matt with a gray cat on his shoulders and a pile of equipment. "So, do you want me to stick with dinner or get in on that?"

"I don't need your help," Matt called. "Welcome to the madhouse, Agent."

"Off-duty, don't act like you weren't listening," Jess scolded, sliding an arm around him. The cat hopped on her shoulders. "I'll take over."

Matt greeted Dinah with less suspicion and followed them into the kitchen. Frank wasn't sure where everything was yet but Jess and Matt didn't cook at home often since the first pan he pulled out still had the plastic overlay.

"Congratulations on the new family member. I've been thinking of getting a pet now that I'm not in the field as often," Dinah admitted. "I'm still getting used to being in Midtown and not DC and it's been six months."

He puttered around the kitchen while Matt and Dinah made small talk and sniffed each other out. By the time he put the pasta in to boil and had the vegetables ready for chopping, Jessica and the cat had joined the meet and greet.

The cat batted at Dinah's bracelets and Jess had her arms draped across Matt's shoulders from behind, absently strumming her fingers over the hidden tattoo under his clothes. Friends having dinner. God, is this how normal people did it? Dinner with Maria and the kids had been a boisterous affair once they were out of diapers but he only a few snapshots left in his head of those 'family dinners'.

"If you're not checking up on Frank, what brings you this way?" Jessica asked, dragging his attention back to the present. 

Dinah glanced at him. "He didn't tell you?"

"He did but we'd like to hear it from you," Matt answered. "Don't know what a Fed would want with Daredevil, I heard he's been quiet lately."

"Shut down a major meth supplier last night so either you don't watch the news or you're full of shit," Dinah smiled.

"Can it be both?"

"My team monitors groups that don't fall under any other jurisdictions. Don't say X-Files, aliens have a whole other team. We get the cast offs, sometimes we get necromancy and gray magic, vampires and other less public groups. Daredevil, somehow, managed to ban undead ninjas from the area but we've got a lead that they might be joining up with the vampires to take back the territory," Dinah said. "My boss suggested I dig a little deeper and see if it needs a task force."

Matt tilted his head toward Frank. "You could've filled her in."

"Nope, I'm sticking to the loose boundaries I've been given. Elektra is your mess and I can't lay claim to Karen's mess until I talk to her myself," Frank said, pretending to focus his full attention on the vegetables.

"You know the Black Sky?" Dinah asked Matt, zeroing in on him. "We have a meeting with her next week."

"So glad we got the cat early, you're going to need it. Danny says it might be a good time for you to visit," Jessica sighed.

"Wait, I thought - has anyone asked Karen how she feels about you digging yourself deeper in with your dead ex?" Frank asked.

Dinah raised her hand and caught the cat before she pounced on the counter. "Everything is off the record, if that wasn't clear already. Dead ex?"

"First time Frank saved my life was the night she died. Met Jessica when the ninjas brought her back a few months later," Matt said.

"Oh. Wow. I wasn't aware she was a - _person_ before she was the Black Sky."

"Yeah, pretty sure that's how the evil ninja organizations like it," Jessica said. "But Matt over here tried to save her, post-resurrection and saving his dumb ass flipped her humanity switch back on."

"True love?" Dinah hesitated. Frank was a little curious, too but Matt and Jess weren't put off.

"No fairy tales in Hell's Kitchen," Matt said, scooping up the kitten. "Unless you count Cuddle Puff over here. No to the counter, right?"

"Right," Jessica agreed and he took the cat into the other room to the pile of cat toys. "The way we figure, Matt always believed Elektra had good in her so when it came to being a soulless vessel for evil - she said fuck that and decided to do her own thing."

"Not that her own thing doesn't include homicide and excessive violence, but she's trying. Maybe more than she did when she was alive," Matt picked up when he returned and hip-checked Frank to wash his hands.

"So what does Frank's ex have to do with your ex?" Dinah asked Matt.

"Recently turned vampire. Elektra's not expanding her network to the vampires, she's negotiating with them so Karen can come home without having to tag in," Jessica answered.

"I have a funny feeling this is all Frank's fault," Dinah decided, leaning back thoughtfully.

"Completely," Matt grinned. "What do we have to do to get all this off your radar?"

"Is Daredevil available to sit in when I meet with her next week? I can get the other agents pulled," Dinah said. "I can't close the file until I confirm they're not plotting something. 

"Cancel your meeting and we'll invite her to dinner," Jessica said. "Matt stays on home turf with her, we'll set it up."

"You sure?" Frank asked.

"She's been here before. If you haven't found a place yet, you're drafted to cook," Matt said. "Did you salt the water for the pasta?"

He chased him back around the kitchen island.

"How'd you even get a meeting with her?" Jessica asked Dinah.

"We slid into her DMs, her Instagram's only active a few times a year and we got a reply," she replied.

"Do we need an Instagram?" Matt asked Jess.

"Team Red has one, lots of cats. Defenders has one, too," Dinah laughed as Jessica shook her head frantically.

"Is that the one with all the butt shots? Amy follows that one," Frank said.


	25. curtains

Sister Maggie frowned, making sure everyone in the booth knew how unhappy she was with their plan. She finally decided to narrow her glare at Matt, the one person that didn't need to see it to suffer the full effect. "What on earth makes you think now is a good time to meet with her?"

Matt picked at his sleeve. "Danny says - "

Danny's eyes widened. "Oh. Okay, we all noticed that Elektra was a little off and Colleen said - "

"You're talking to her?" Marci blurted out.

"We have a cat together and she's my best friend," Danny replied without hesitation. "_Any_way, she said everyone would be happier if Elektra could be a little more engaged in the meetings and like, use names and things."

"What did Karen say about working with a mentor?" Matt directed at Sister Maggie.

"Some words that I shouldn't repeat," she replied. "She's willing to 'take one for the team', but she'd prefer it if wasn't on Elektra's watch."

"Are we sure the Black Sky doesn't want to add Karen to her troops? She was pretty serious about getting Karen trained," Jessica offered.

Matt took a deep breath, not wanting to start a fight but preparing for the inevitable. "Elektra is doing us a favor. Hopefully Karen will be a quick study and not need to do anything she'll find uncomfortable but - "

Jess grabbed his hand, stilling his injured hand since the splinted fingers were incompatible with fists. "Don't start a fight, we're just spit-balling here."

"And don't say she's not dangerous, you have a huge blind spot for Ellie," Danny said.

He didn't take the obvious joke opening and nodded instead, accepting his use of the nickname as the peace offering it was.

"Who's on the guest list?" Sister Maggie asked.

"Small group. Me, Jess, Dinah and Frank," Matt answered. "Elektra and Lars will make six, just enough for the dining room table."

"What about - " Maggie started.

Danny cleared his throat. "I have to go to Hong Kong for business and I don't know if I'll be back by then."

"You're leaving now? We need you here now," Marci said firmly.

Matt put his hand on Danny's back for support. "You're taking Ward, aren't you?"

"Jess is loaning me Malcolm," Danny conceded. Guy would probably always have issues with flying for better reasons than Matt's own sensory overload. Matt knew he'd asked Marci and rescheduled the trip a few times, hoping she'd agree to a short trip with him with or without Lu - but it wasn't Matt's job to matchmake. Especially not with Marci.

Danny was a friend so he'd allowed it to happen without making a fuss but he'd be damned sure to vet anyone else that dared attempt a relationship with Foggy's girl.

"He can't put it off any longer, leave him alone," Jess snapped at Marci suddenly. "You had all night to talk about this with him, we're dealing with ninja vampire emergencies right now and you don't have to be here."

"I'm Karen's proxy," Marci snapped back. "And I just thought it was - that it was later in the month."

"Cuddle Puff's very excited about the sleepovers with Champ," Matt said, ignoring several scoffs from his friends and focusing on Danny's soft exhale of relief. "It's not an emergency, it's a - dinner party with friends."

Jessica banged her head on the table but Matt thought his description was apt. He could hear Frank and Luke laughing at them from across the bar.

"Matthew. Are you going to be able to handle it?" Sister Maggie asked softly.

"Yes," he said. "Jess will be there the whole time, and the cats."

"And Frankie, your favorite," Jess snarked, earning a glare from Maggie.

"Now who's trying to start a fight," Marci muttered.

Matt tilted his head to Danny. "You want to go check on the cats?"

"God, yes, please."


	26. speakerbox

"Construction?"

Frank shrugged. "Pays well and they don't ask a lot of questions. Hard labor keeps my head down, you know?"

Matt smoothed his hand over the newsprint. "You could just ask, you know?"

"What, to take messages for you and Walters? Not really my thing." He didn't want to use favors for something like this, those were better saved for missions.

"Danny could get you a consulting gig at his company, Rand has a security division. If you get a bartending license, Luke would tag you for some shifts at the bar and Jess hates asking Wade to play muscle when she's shaking down leads." Matt paused. "She might offer that job to Karen, though, if she's as strong as advertised so scratch that."

"Why would Jess need muscle?" Frank asked doubtfully.

"She's always getting into shit solo but she's supposed to take a spotter if something smells rotten."

"So you loan her Team Red?" he teased.

"God, _never_ but Wade doesn't turn down cash. My point is, you don't have to go straight to construction. You can go back to school or God forbid, go into merc work if that'll make you happy," Matt offered.

"Okay, so you're not allowed to make any more suggestions if that's on the table," he laughed.

"I'd just hate to see you stuck in a back-breaking job because you didn't ask around first."

"You've got enough shit to worry about right now, don't worry about my bank account," Frank warned.

"Do you _have_ a bank account?"

"Fuck off. Do we need to make any arrangements for the dinner party?"

Matt fidgeted with a coaster. "Something rustic, nothing fancy or Jess will get tweaked. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes, or that gumbo you made when we got the flu together."

"Am I cooking for Jess or for Elektra?"

"Don't get offended if El doesn't eat. She doesn't have to, I'm not sure what it does to her body if she ingests actual food," Matt said quietly. "Lars is human so he'll eat whatever. Elektra _can_ eat, she just - "

Frank rapped his knuckles on the bar to catch his attention. "Forget I asked."

"Don't coddle me. Foggy used to say that Elektra and I were never really friends, we were just - obsessed at first sight, or whatever," Matt sighed. "We're allies now, sure, but I'd like us to be friends. The fact that I have to be monitored when I'm near her - it's frustrating."

He considered how to respond but Matt continued. "It's _necessary_, I get that. I haven't been able to prove that I can be around her without slipping. Maybe I could help her if - "

Frank cut him off. "Stop. I can't weigh in on this because I haven't seen you interact but I really doubt that you didn't explore all your fucking options when you found out about her."

Matt sighed. "Right."

"It's not your responsibility to save her," Frank said. "If you're thinking about it this hard then maybe - "

He shook his head as if clearing it. "If I go offline, Jess is going to be distracted. You and Dinah will have to be on point. I need to have all my feelings locked in boxes when I see her."

Oh. "We'll keep our eyes on the prize, Matt."

"She'll know things she shouldn't, she'll know all your soft spots, and Dinah's. Hopefully I'll be functional to mediate but - I want you to know what you're getting into."

"I'll give her the heads up. She won't fuck it up, this is work for her."

Matt hummed. "Well, let's hope it's not the kind of work that'll put her off future visits. She's sharp and I think I want her on my team for trivia night."

Frank caught his wrists. "Wait. Trivia night requires twice as much explaining as you're giving me on this dinner party."


	27. clover

Dinah and Frank stood aside when Jessica let in Lars and Elektra, pale and bloodless like she was the vampire. She still had that easy grace to her steps, silent and gliding as she took in the house. Jess watched her gaze tic-tic-tic across the photographs, long enough that her lackey cleared his throat.

Champ hissed suddenly from the base of the stairs, her body completely fuzzed up making her seem twice as large.

Elektra paused, glaring at the cat. "What is *she* doing here? I thought we were on peaceful terms," she snapped.

"She's staying with us for a few days," Matt said, his voice drawing Elektra's full attention to him as he stepped out of the kitchen with Cuddle Puff in his arm. "Hey."

She opened her mouth to speak and closed it, flaring her nostrils as she breathed in. "_Matthew_."

Everyone else held their breath.

Matt held out the squirming kitten and Jessica accepted the convenient buffer. "She was in the laundry room, I think the basket is a trigger."

He turned back to Elektra and held out his hand. Jessica clutched CP to her chest and tried not to watch as Matt embraced her.

"Oh," Frank murmured. She'd seen the transformation before but Frank and Dinah were visibly surprised as Elektra's skin pinked up and her pupils contracted into human shape. It was a lot more noticeable with Matt in the room compared to the biannual 'gifting'.

Champ sensed the shift, too and meowed, her fur settling when she sat down and licked her paw. Thanks for nothing, cat.

"You changed your hair," Matt said, threading his fingers through Elektra's hair while she looked up at him adoringly.

Jess shook off her jealous thoughts - she wasn't 'adoring', she was just here for business. Goddammit.

Elektra carefully slid a finger down Matt's cheek. "She loves you."

"Too much."

"Good."

CP pressed her paw against her cheek and reminded her to breathe.

Elektra blinked and caught her gaze as she stepped back, breaking the too-long hug. "Thank you," she said, making sure Jess knew it was meant for her. "They didn't tell me you'd become a father, what have you named your new ward?"

"Cuddle Puff," Matt replied flatly. Elektra laughed and Lars cracked a tiny smile. Frank elbowed her and gave her a wink.

Well, they made it through the first step, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so behind schedule, but not giving up yet! (Maybe tomorrow...)

**Author's Note:**

> Title belongs to _65daysofstatic_.


End file.
